An Introduction to NURBS: With Historical Perspective (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Computer Graphics)

Curve and surface computer modeling is far more complex than what you see on screen. It is quite a feat to convert a data set into a visual image, and a bigger trick to convert it into a recognizable dimensional object that you can turn as if you were holding it in your hand. The mathematical heroes who paved the road to this point are acknowledged eloquently in David Rogers's An Introduction to NURBS with Historical Perspective.

Rogers himself is a figure in computer graphics history, having penned Mathematical Elements for Computer Graphics and Procedural Elements for Computer Graphics. In An Introduction to NURBS, he takes us on a mathematical journey that introduces the concept and details of non-uniform rational B-splines, while simultaneously shedding light on the mathematical wizards that make NURBS possible.

This is a hardcover textbook (not light reading) with enough equations and pseudocode to satisfy even the hungriest of math theorists. With seven chapters, starting with "Curve and Surface Representation" through "B-Spline Curves" to "Bzier Surfaces," the book is a thorough primer for those who are working toward understanding computer graphic modeling.

What really sets this book apart from other texts, however, is the closing portion of each chapter, in which readers get a historical perspective of the current state of the art in curve and surface mathematics, in passages written by such luminaries as Robin Forrest (Bzier curves), Rich Riesenfeld (B-splines), and Lewis Knapp (rational B-splines). --Mike Caputo